The horror series ‘Paranormal Activity,’ whose seventh installment, ‘Next of Kin,’ debuted on streaming services four years ago, left many wondering if the once-popular franchise had reached its end, especially after its microbudget original film became a surprise hit in 2009. The answer, it turns out, is a bit of both. A fresh ‘Paranormal Activity’ experience is now captivating audiences, not as another movie, but as an exciting new theatrical production.
Following in the footsteps of major stage adaptations like ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ and ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow,’ this new ‘Paranormal Activity’ play leverages its established name to expand the brand. However, it takes a different approach by presenting an entirely original story, steering clear of the film’s familiar characters or plotlines. Fans won’t see sisters Katie and Kristi or the infamous demon Tobi in this iteration.
What makes this production particularly innovative is its departure from the ‘found footage’ style that defines the film series. This unique method, popularized by films such as ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ ‘Cloverfield,’ and ‘V/H/S,’ and even explored by M. Night Shyamalan in ‘The Visit,’ is intentionally avoided by the stage adaptation currently playing at Chicago Shakespeare Theater until November 2.
While video projections are increasingly common in modern theater, seen in recent Broadway hits like ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ the creative team behind ‘Paranormal Activity’ chose a different path. Though a television set does make a few appearances, it’s not central to their visual storytelling.
Director Felix Barrett, known for ‘Sleep No More,’ explained after the Chicago preview that they deliberately ‘did away with screens and trying to literally take the idea of found footage.’ He felt that simply mirroring the cinematic style would be an overused approach in the current ‘cinematic theater’ trend. The play features Cher Álvarez as Lou and Patrick Heusinger as James, a couple who find it challenging to escape their haunted past in this original stage story. (This image shows Cher Álvarez and Patrick Heusinger standing close together at the bottom of a staircase. She has her fingers covering her ears, and he is holding a bat.)
Instead of mimicking the films, Barrett and playwright Levi Holloway, whose 2023 Broadway production ‘Grey House’ also unnerved audiences, aimed to capture the essence of the ‘Paranormal’ franchise. Their goal was to create an atmosphere of sustained anxiety and dread.
To achieve this unsettling mood, they incorporated theatrical techniques like prolonged silence and scenes shrouded in dimness, compelling the audience to lean in with nervous anticipation. Barrett revealed that during rehearsals, actors even wore blindfolds to understand how other senses heighten when sight is removed, making every sound and touch more intense.
Paramount Pictures, the intellectual property holder, and Oren Peli, the franchise creator, granted the creative team significant artistic freedom. Holloway described their primary directive as ‘tonal,’ emphasizing the franchise’s ability to lull viewers into a false sense of security with everyday scenarios before delivering a sudden, shocking twist.
The play introduces a new narrative about James (Patrick Heusinger) and Lou (Cher Álvarez), a young couple who move from Chicago to London for James’s new job. Life in their spacious new home seems normal until strange occurrences begin to disrupt their peace, making them question if a disappearing TV remote is truly the reason channels are changing by themselves.
To recreate the signature dread of the films, the creators aimed for what they termed ‘ultranaturalism’ in their stage presentation.
This approach is immediately evident in Fly Davis’s remarkably detailed, two-level house set, designed to offer a dollhouse-like view for the audience. Holloway recalled their early discussions: ‘What if we just can see into every room? What if the nucleus of the action is in the kitchen and it’s very domestic? What if your eyes were to zoom up to the bedroom, and what could be going on there, if anything at all?’ This design choice allows for subtle, creeping terror.
Cher Álvarez immersed herself in the intricate set, even counting the staircase steps to truly inhabit her character’s space. She explained, ‘I do that in my everyday life because I don’t want to trip, I don’t want to fall. And I love that kitchen. I just wanted to familiarize myself with it, like, where would Lou put things purposefully that flow for her?’ This detailed approach extends to the show’s extensive tour, co-produced by major regional theaters like Center Theater Group’s Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles (November 13-December 7), Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington (January 28-February 7), and American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (February 19-March 15), with a commercial run also opening in London’s West End on December 5. Álvarez described the demanding performance, which features various illusions, as ‘spinning so many plates at the same time.’ (This image shows Cher Álvarez sitting dejected and terrorized at the kitchen counter. A black trash bag sits on the floor beside the counter.)
Naturally, a horror production requires moments of intense fright, and this is where illusions designer Chris Fisher, known for his work on ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ and ‘The Hunger Games: On Stage’ in London, played a crucial role.
Fisher shared, with a chuckle, that the primary objective from the outset was to genuinely terrify the audience. The illusion work began even before the set was completed. Barrett explained, ‘If you’re going to bring a haunting, you’re going to create those moments of inflection and they need to be so real. So we just started with the tricks. It was an absolute joy coming in and seeing —’ (The article intentionally cuts off here to prevent spoilers). Álvarez recounted her nervousness about the show’s initial major illusion during the first preview, describing it as the moment ‘when the production switches gear, like a roller coaster car that had been slowing going uphill and plunges down.’ Her relief was palpable when she heard the audience’s genuine screams, confirming, ‘They bought it! It worked!’
Some years prior, producer Simon Friend, known for ‘Life of Pi,’ reached out to Barrett with a straightforward inquiry: ‘What about ‘Paranormal Activity’?’ Barrett recalled a powerful memory of the film’s original trailer, which masterfully used night-vision footage of a movie audience reacting with sheer terror, ‘coiled… or clutching each other in the dark.’ He described it as ‘a pinnacle of restraint’ and ‘so cool at the time.’ Inspired, Barrett thought, ‘Oh my gosh, imagine if we could do that in a theater?’ and eagerly agreed to the project. Playwright Holloway joined him in early 2023.
In preparation for its premiere at the Leeds Playhouse in Britain last year, Barrett and Holloway drew inspiration from a diverse range of sources, including psychological horror films like ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ and the occult-focused works of Victorian writer Arthur Machen. A fun detail for 1980s horror enthusiasts is James’s mother, played by Shannon Cochran, named Carolanne—a clear homage to the iconic character from Tobe Hooper’s ‘Poltergeist,’ subtly hinting at the play’s eerie direction. Shannon Cochran portrays James’s enigmatic mother, Carolanne. The production is slated for a tour, heading to Los Angeles, Washington, and San Francisco after its Chicago run.
The team even explored an immersive element: a mind-reading segment involving audience members. Barrett, who is friends with mentalist Derren Brown, explained this idea would have offered a ‘different type of theatrical danger,’ perhaps by having a couple vanish from a ‘spirit cabinet’ before the main play began. Ultimately, they opted for a more traditional theatrical structure, yet the elaborate set still allows Barrett immense control over the audience’s focus. With expert lighting by Anna Watson and sound design by Gareth Fry, he can orchestrate character movements and manipulate the perception of empty spaces. ‘You get inherently empty space because they can’t populate all the rooms at the same time,’ Barrett noted, emphasizing how this creates an unsettling ‘absence’ within the house, leaving audiences to imagine potential horrors.
This ‘ultranaturalism’ is also evident in the play’s pacing, which deliberately mirrors the films’ slow, lifelike progression, often featuring extended moments where little to nothing overtly frightening occurs. Barrett finds ‘the negative space so exciting because there’s pregnant pauses where suddenly time stretches, and that’s where the threat is. It’s between the lines, isn’t it?” Holloway succinctly added, ‘It’s the water, not the shark,’ perfectly encapsulating their philosophy of building atmospheric tension. Playwright Levi Holloway (left) and director Felix Barrett are pictured at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the venue for their ambitious horror production.
Theater has a long and storied history with horror, from the bloody witches and hallucinations of ‘Macbeth’ to the macabre spectacles of Grand Guignol. Broadway saw T.R. Sullivan’s ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ just a year after Stevenson’s novella, and the chilling narrative of ‘Sweeney Todd’ continues to captivate as a tale of a serial killer. Productions like ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ (a sequel to the books) and ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ (a prequel to the Netflix series) entice audiences by bringing beloved fantastical horrors like Dementors and Demogorgons to life. Beyond traditional plays, immersive experiences are also upping the scare factor, as seen with New York’s Psycho Clan company’s ‘This Is Real,’ where participants attempt to escape a kidnapper, and various escape rooms in Las Vegas themed around franchises like ‘Saw’ and ‘Blair Witch.’
The creators of ‘Paranormal Activity’ understand that true artistic success in horror demands more than just jump scares. Just as ‘Carrie’ resonates because of its poignant story of a bullied outcast’s bloody revenge, their production aims for deeper impact. Holloway reflected on balancing audience expectations with artistic depth: ‘I think people come in with expectations, possibly commercial expectations, and it’s been interesting to be like, let’s honor that and let’s have some fun. We like to inflate a balloon to its max, and then let it breathe for a second and then —’ (snaps fingers). He emphasized the importance of creating ‘something that has some heartache in it, that’s human. When you can combine those two things you create meaning. It makes the work worth it.”